I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me. Phil 4:13 NKJV

The will to win, to push continuously until success is achieved, is the great underlying factor for success in the life of the born again one – success being defined as the perfect will of God being manifested in their life and particular situation. Jesus spoke to a man who had been sick for thirty-eight years. He said, “Do you WILL to be made whole?” Jesus wanted to know the status of the man’s will – had he given up on ever being healed, or was he still fighting for his healing?

When I teach and impart the gifts of the Spirit, it seems the vast majority of those who receive fail to use those gifts to their intended effect. Now, some do…and the testimonies are powerful! But the vast majority seem to lack the WILL (or only have it for a short while) to use the gifts to bring the power of God into their lives and others. For instance, I can teach on the benefits of speaking in tongues for hours because I have experienced them. I can teach scriptural truth, and back it with incident after incident of God’s power. But I can’t seem to impart the WILL…the courage…the determination… necessary to enable my listeners to get their own experiences, and truly manifest the promises of God in their lives.

The fire of God has to burn inside of you.

The devil knows this reality…and he will use every available avenue to try to crush your heart, and extinguish the fire of God. He will use your friends. I recently met a woman who was discouraged from speaking in tongues by her Christian friends. Imagine that!

Of all of the devil’s discouragements, perhaps none is more powerful than a broken heart. You try and try to do something…and fail. You trust in someone…and they reward your trust with brutal, devastating betrayal and rejection. You confide your hopes and dreams, exposing your heart, and someone comes along and crushes it with vicious words. A young believer, full of fire and enthusiasm, is charging hard until an older believer imparts his broken heart into the young one. There are many ways to a broken heart. But thankfully, there is a Healer of broken hearts who can restore the fire of God in you.

“The Spirit of the LORD is upon Me, because He has anointed Me to preach the gospel to the poor; He has sent Me to heal the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives and recovery of sight to the blind, to set at liberty those who are oppressed; Luke 4:18 NKJV

One time I was ministering in a city in western Kenya. A large crowd of perhaps three hundred to five hundred people had gathered for the crusade. I ministered from Luke 4:18 on Jesus as the Healer of broken hearts. When I was done preaching I asked for people to come forward to be saved. No one came. But when I asked how many needed to be healed of a broken heart, the whole crowd stood up! Oh, the glory that came down that night when people forgave from their hearts those who had hurt them!

You see, the key to healing a broken heart is to forgive from your heart those who have hurt you…to completely release them, forgive them and confess that you love them. One couple reported days later that a major financial situation had turned around for them, miraculously, after they forgave their oppressors. You forgive, and the Lord sutures up the wound of your heart…

Another time I was ministering in a large pastors conference in Rwanda where we saw the power of God fall when pastors began to seek forgiveness from each other, and forgive each other. Glory! I have seen so many people healed of physical diseases, delivered of demons and enabled to become victorious when they forgave from their hearts those who had broken them.

Another key distraction to the will to win is fellowship with darkness. You need to be in relationship with those who are striving to win as well. Otherwise, fellowship with unbelief  (especially Christian unbelief…see above example about friends) will bring forth the fruit of unbelief. In the Bering Sea, Alaskan king crabs, a seafood delicacy, are caught in large pots that are hauled into the boats of fishermen. Interestingly, if a crab tries to leave the pot, he will be held back by the other crabs, ensuring that he becomes food on someone’s table! Likewise, there is a crab spirit in the fellowship of unbelief that seeks to snare everyone who has fallen in the pot, so to speak. Be careful of whom you fellowship with!

I have met some pretty wonderful people in my life, and each one of them has had a fire, an enthusiasm, a determination in their soul to do whatever it takes to see the perfect will of God manifested…a fire that keeps burning, day after day, year after year, because its fuel flows (the oil) from the heart of God. I believe you, dear reader, are one of them…one of us!

Jesus said to them, “My food is to do the will of Him who sent Me, and to finish His work. John 4:34 NKJV

Determine right now that nothing is going to keep you from using the Word of God and the gifts He has given you, all nine gifts of the Spirit, to pursue His glory and manifest His perfect will. If it takes hours of prayer in tongues…no problem. Just do it! Fasting? No problem! Waiting on the Lord? Reading and studying the Word? Worship…praise? No problem! Just do it. Get it done! There are no rewards in Heaven for good intentions…only results. Finish…His…work. Get it done! Those three words are the essence of the will to win…

Remember dear ones; we must be about our Fathers business…